The survivor
by Tricia3
Summary: A woman loses everything and Remus steps in and helps. With her still being hunted, can Remus help her or, is it only a matter of time before she's lost as well?
1. Chapter 1

**The Survivor**

Disclaimer: See bio

Notes: This takes place in book five. I hope that she's not a MS but if so, well my apologies :)

"...and Lupin, who was staying in the house with Sirius but left it for long periods to do mysterious work for the Order..." Ch. 6 p.110 OOTP Canadian Ed. 2004, Paperback

Looking around and seeing no one, she allowed herself to step out of the shadows of the surrounding trees. In front of her stood a run down house, with what appeared to be several "do not trespass" signs, hanging off of a barbed wire fence encircling the house. It was hard to tell exactly what the signs said as many of the letters were either worn off or covered in dirt. Lack of sunlight and rolling grey clouds lent to its ominous atmosphere. As she stepped closer the sky cleared and the house shifted, blurred and turned into an elaborate Victorian-type castle.

It was a large castle with several towers, straining to touch the sky, and turrets scattered all over. It appeared well kept and the land was generally curious and inviting, with a manicured lawn and a beautiful garden off to the side. The castle's front gate was solid iron and when she approached it stayed shut. She tried several times but, no matter how hard she pushed, the gates stayed closed. _'This can't be happening,'_ she thought. Sighing she sat down, she had been running for so long and just felt so tired.

It had been four days since the death eaters had attacked her home. Four days since she had lost everything she held dear. Four days since she had started running, not once stopping to rest. Now here she sat, in front of the one place she thought she could find help, and yet she couldn't get in. Feeling defeated, she closed her eyes, clutching the necklace around her neck. As she lost consciousness the gate clicked open, but she was too far-gone to notice. That was how Remus found her.

He had just apparated, several metres in front of Hogwarts, from Grimmauld Place. He was staying there with Sirius, who was more than restless in his renewed confinement, and helping out the Order. Just as when he had been teaching at the school, Severus Snape had been brewing the Wolfsbane potion for him.

Usually Severus delivered the potion to headquarters but soon a new term would be starting and, according to Albus, the school would have the presence of the Ministry to deal with. Certain "changes" were being made to parts of the curriculum to fit with "impending Ministry standards." With these changes and increased death eater meetings as a spy, Severus claimed to be just "too busy" to bring the potion to headquarters. Deciding instead, to leave it with Headmaster Dumbledore for Remus to pick up. No one dared mentioned that, in reality, it was probably the strained relationship between the two, and Severus' desire to have as little contact as possible with Remus that led to the current arrangement. However, Remus didn't mind as the walk to the school gave him the chance to think about things without interruption.

He had been walking up the path leading to the front gate, softly humming to himself, his light graying hair shining in the afternoon sunlight, when he first saw her. At first Remus had thought that she was dead. Her light brown hair was matted to skin that was too pale. Her lips were parted slightly, but under her rumpled and torn clothes her breathing was soft, almost indiscernible.

He came up to her and tried to see where, or if she was hurt. It was almost impossible to tell, from the mud on her dress, any injuries she might have. Kneeling in front of her, he tried waking her up, gently nudging her shoulder.

"Miss, can you hear me? Are you alright?" He asked. She didn't respond.

He pushed her hair out of her face, her skin was cold and clammy. She shifted slightly and gripped the necklace in her hand tighter, murmuring something he couldn't quite catch. Unfocused eyes looked up at him.

"Please," she asked, "please ..I need ...Dumbledore...help." She trailed off and her eyes slipped closed.

Gathering the woman up in his arms, Remus walked the rest of the way to Hogwarts and headed to the hospital wing.

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"Did you take care of it?" The hooded figure asked. His very presence cast a chill in the dimly lit room, making it seem even smaller than it already was. The three death eaters looked at each other, neither one wanted to be the one to relay the mission's outcome. For a few moments there was silence, that not even the local wildlife dared to disturb. Even the moon reflected its wariness as the clouds continually obscured its view from the window, the men's shadows fading in and out with each passing cloud. Each of the men anxiously waited for the other to answer.

"Well ummm, we did destroy the house and most of the family was easy to take care of..." One of the men replied.

"But?" The man shifted nervously, his companions sent longing glances towards the door.

"There was one sir, a woman. We tried but she got away." The hooded figure took a step forward. "But we've been looking for her." He rushed to say, "don't worry sir, we'll find her." The others vigorously nodded their agreement.

"It was a simple assignment: question them, get it and then destroy the house _after_ you've disposed of the occupants."

"But sir we did! The house is gone and the family-"

"Has not been fully dealt with," the hooded man interrupted, "and you were unable to find it. So simple and yet, between the three of you, you couldn't manage one thing that was asked of you." The figure made his way to the door, his billowing robes giving the illusion of him gliding on air, as the other three looked at each other.

"Failure will not be tolerated." The figure stepped through the door as the room burst into flames, the screams of the three men echoing behind him.

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_There was yelling and the sound of furniture being thrown across the room. A woman's scream followed by the sounds of children crying. Opening the door, she walked down the hall, pausing as she approached the living room. Chairs were scattered, the table was overturned and cards were all over the floor, evidence of a recently interrupted card game. Dark-robed and masked figures surrounded her family._

_Her brother was standing protectively in front of her sister, mother, niece and nephew. Her father lay lifeless of the floor, unseeing eyes staring at the ceiling. Her niece and nephew clung to her sister sniffling, trying not to look at the men who had invaded their home. Her brother glanced at her and she made to go towards them as one of the figures turned to her._

"_Hey we missed one."_

"_Bring her here," the other one ordered. The man started to come towards her as she stood there, to scared to do anything more than stare._

"_Nooo." Her brother yelled. "Serilyn get out of here."_

_All hell broke loose. Her brother launched himself into one of the men, the momentum barreling them into the second man. Her sister took the opportunity to try and get her children out, but was blocked by the third man. Serilyn locked eyes with her sister and a silent understanding passed between them._

"_Take care of them." Her sister said simply, before tackling the masked man before her, scratching, hitting and kicking any part of him that she could reach._

_The children slipped by easily and Serilyn quickly led them outside. Behind them the three men struggled with her family._

"Poppy, what's wrong with her?" A voice asked, it was far away but its warm tones managed to be comforting.

"Besides the bumps and scrapes, she's dehydrated, malnourished and exhausted, but she'll be alright. Albus has your potion in his office." Another voice, female this time.

Serilyn tried to hold onto them, to follow them out, but she was still too tired and it was too hard to fight.

_Running, branches whip at her face, and tear at her dress. Small hands grip hers as she tries not to stumble in the darkness, only just succeeding. She can hear the men behind her, steadily gaining on them._

"_The children, I must not let them get the children," she thinks. Before long she is repeating this to herself like a mantra. Her niece trips and she catches the little girl before she hits the ground._

"_They're coming closer Auntie Ri." Her nephew gasps. She doesn't need to look back, her ears have already confirmed his statement._

"_Just keep running," she says to them. Her lungs are starting to burn, she can only imagine how they are fairing._

"_AVEDA KADAVERA." One of them yells._

'_No, no no no no anyone but that one." She thinks frantically._

_Time seems to slow as she rushes to pull the children to the ground and out of the way. Too late as her nephew screams and then collapses, face first to the ground, a faint green light emanates from his back._

_Serilyn grabs her niece and takes off running again, trying to ignore the urge to collapse and sob. The least she can do now is keep her niece alive._

_She stumbles again. The forest is gone as is the child in her arms. Instead she's in front of a lake, the same lake her family visits every summer._

"_I asked you to take care of them." Serilyn starts at the voice and spins around to face her sister, the accusation in the other woman's eyes more than she can bear._

"_I tried, dear God, Stephanie, I tried. Please, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She sobs._

Her sister fades as does the lake, to be replaced by warm blue-green eyes and a soft voice.

"Shh, it's ok. You're okay, just rest." He says.

Please review, constructive critisim is welcome.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: See bio

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Sunlight, it was the first thing that Serilyn noticed. The second was that she was laying down, was warm, and was covered. Slowly she turned her head and opened her eyes, trying to will away the fuzzy feeling that had taken over.

Next to her was an empty bed, several beds actually, all neatly spaced with a night table beside each one. Further down was the source of the sunlight, a window. A rather large window, that started about halfway up the wall, and almost reached the ceiling.

'_That must be quite the chore to keep clean,'_ she mused.

Turning her head to look at the other side of the room, she saw more empty beds and a set of double doors. The room was sparsely furnished, yet eerily familiar, and Serilyn was reminded of the hospital wing of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She hadn't been there often as a child, only when her brother was seriously hurt during one of the many quidditch matches he had. But still, the few times she had been this is what it had looked like. The only thing needed to make the room complete was Poppy Pomfrey, Hogwart's medi-witch ...Hogwarts!

It all came back to her, her family, the three masked men, the running, her sister's children.

Panicked Serilyn threw the covers off and sat up, knocking over a glass on the night table beside her. Pulling open its drawer, she looked in hoping to find her clothes. _Empty, damn it._ Standing now, she began to walk to a door at the side of the room, just as the door opened.

A relatively small woman, with gray hair and a kind face, came bustling out. Hogwart's medi-witch, Poppy Pomfrey.

"Ah, awake now are we? Come back to bed now, you still need to rest." Poppy said while leading her, by the arm, back to the bed.

"Madam Pomfrey, you couldn't possibly remember me, but I need to see Professor Dumbledore." Serilyn protested. Her relief at realizing she was in Hogwarts was tempered with grief and anxiety over what had happened to her family.

"You're right, and I'm sorry I don't remember you, but that doesn't change the fact that what you need right now is to rest. Dumbledore knows you're here. For now lay back and try to sleep."

Doing as she was told, Serilyn lay back and tried to rest. After all, even if she left, she had no idea where the Headmaster's office was, and was more likely to get lost than she was to find it.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Closing the door quietly, Remus made his way across the hall and down to the kitchen, being careful not to wake the sleeping portrait. A screaming Mrs. Black was the last thing he needed or wanted at the moment.

The full moon had been two nights ago and Remus was still feeling a little drained, but he didn't let that stop him from taking assignments to help the Order. Voldemort and his followers didn't rest after the full moon so neither would he. At least Remus wouldn't rest for very long, taking only a day to allow himself to recover from his monthly transformation.

The death eaters had been increasing their attacks, but were disguising them as "accidents." Or at least the Ministry was. Minister Fudge still refused to even consider that Voldemort might be back. Resulting in stories being invented so there was no panic, whether this was simple denial on the Minister's part or an inadequacy base on fear was anyone's guess. When brooms that had been tampered with so they fell apart when they reached 75 feet, they were said to have been "faulty assembly." An audience stand that had fallen apart during a regional quidditch match was blamed on a "structural malfunction." The death toll was nearing 100 and still nothing was being done.

Now the death eaters were upping the ante and attacking people in their homes, so it would seem.

It had been a little over a week ago that a family had been attacked. Their house had been burnt to the ground, though it was unknown whether the family had been alive or not when the fire was set. The only body not mangled was that of a little boy, about six or seven years old, found a kilometer from the house. All the others were listed as being deceased. Though there were not enough remains to tell exactly who had been in the house so the authorities were relying on "witness reports." Neighbours who knew the family's nightly routine and had seen each and every one of them enter the house.

Muggle authorities had been all over the house in the past week, making it impossible for anyone from the Ministry or the Order to get close. Ultimately, with a little help from the Ministry, the fire had been ruled "accidental." A story perpetuated in the magical world as well. It had made the front page of the _Daily Prophet_, _'Tragic accident kills muggle-magical family.'_ Tonight Remus had finally been able to gain access to the house.

He was charged with looking into any spells that may have been cast within the house and determining how many people had been inside when the fire was lit. As it was they were assuming that everyone had perished. None of the family had been spotted since the fire.

Looking around had made Remus slightly nauseous. The charred remains of the house gave him a clear picture of what the people inside would've looked like. It was all too easy to remember another house, another family, another life that had been torn apart. After all these years the deaths of Lily and James Potter was no easier to deal with than when he had first found out what had happened to them.

This family had been magical-muggle mix. Dylan Fairchild had married Madalin Beauvais, a muggle woman, a couple of years after leaving Hogwarts school, while on a tour of France. Together they had had three children. Gerard, a top aurora at the Ministry, Stephanie, who was one of the youngest potions masters in recent history and Serilyn, who was born with no magical ability whatsoever.

Dylan had been an active member of the Order during the first war, doing reconnaissance missions while maintaining his job with the Ministry as the top financial advisor. His skill in obtaining information for the Order had been unparallel. This time around Dylan was retired, wanting to spend time with his family and simply enjoy life in his old age, but apparently his work hadn't been forgotten, nor forgiven.

Now, after having surveyed the house, all Remus wanted was a stiff drink and a good night's sleep. Well at least as much sleep as an insomniac werewolf could get.

"Finally back." Sirius said. Remus' lycanthropy enhanced all his senses, especially before and after a full moon, and he could see Sirius sitting at the kitchen table shrouded in darkness and well into a bottle of fire whiskey. He didn't look inclined to share.

"I had a lot to go through, it took a while. What happened to the lights?" Remus asked.

"It matches my mood." At Remus' look he continued. "I can't go anywhere, so I might as well enjoy the things I can do." Sirius gestured to the bottle.

"And what if Harry needs you? How are you supposed to be able to help him if you're inebriated?" Remus asked, Sirius snorted.

"'Inebriated.' Leave it to you to use the big words. I can't help him. My godson is not allowed here and I'm not allowed to do anything else. I can't even tell him what's going on."

"He's not here _yet_, and you can't go out because– " Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Yes, yes someone might recognize me. I know. I'm completely useless, no need to rub it in." Remus sighed and turned toward the door. Getting into an argument with Sirius when he was drunk and in this mood solved nothing.

"No one here thinks you're useless, you know that." Remus shook his head. "Goodnight Sirius." He said before heading up the stairs. He took Sirius' muffled response to be a 'goodnight' and sighed. Lately Sirius had been in a depressed funk and nothing Remus said or did seemed to help.

The trip up the stairs and into his room seemed to take forever and the sight of his bed made Remus realize just how tired he was. Still, he took the time to write his report to Dumbledore before carefully folding his robes and setting them on the chair and getting into bed, trying to clear his mind so that sleep could take him.

An hour later, Remus was still awake, and then it hit him. One of the women on the front page of the _Prophet_ was the same woman he had brought to Hogwart's hospital wing and had sat with. Admittedly, she looked much better in the photograph, but it was her just the same. There was a survivor. Getting out of bed, Remus went to his desk and got a piece of parchment. He had to tell Albus.

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